A temporary watertight structure that is pumped dry to enclose an area underwater and allow construction work on a ship, bridge, or rig to be carried out; a caisson
The narrow, empty space between two adjacent watertight or oiltight compartments This space is designed to isolate the two compartments from each other and/or provide additional buoyancy It prevents any liquid contents of one compartment from entering the other in the event of a bulkhead failure In oil tankers, cargo spaces are usually isolated from the rest of the ship by cofferdams fitted at both ends of the tank body
Watertight enclosure from which water is pumped to expose the bed of a body of water in order to permit the construction of a pier or other hydraulic work. Cofferdams are made by driving metal sheetpiling (a series of thin, interlocking panels) into the bed to form a watertight fence. Roman engineers used cofferdams to found the piers of their arch bridges and aqueducts. See also caisson
an open, box-like structure constructed to surround the area to be occupied and to permit draining of the enclosure so that excavation may be effected in open air In its simplest form, the dam consists of interlocking steel sheet piles
An empty space on board of a vessel between two bulkheads or two decks separating oil tanks from each other and/or the engine room or other compartments
A temporary barrier, usually an earthen dike, constructed around a worksite in a reservoir or on a stream, so the worksite can be dewatered or the water level controlled so that construction can proceed in the dry
{i} temporary dam; waterproof enclosure for construction under water; partition or empty space on a ship that serves as protective barrier between bulkheads or two levels